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Where I Have Been: Best Hiking or Camping Trips

I thought it might be fun to share our best camping trips or hikes. Could you say where you were and the trail you followed? What State or country were you in? How long were you gone and how many nights did you camp out? What supplies did you take with you and did you have any equipment failures? Did you see any wildlife? Was your trip or hike enjoyable?

I will get this thread started. When I was first living in the State of Pennsylvania, before moving to Florida, I loved taking day hikes. I would get up early in the morning about 5:30 am, and be out the door by 6:30 am. My destination was a meadow on a mountain top about 5 miles from my home in the country. This meadow once held a logging company and sawmill, in the late 1800's, and it was called "Rainetown." It lays on the border of Elk and Jefferson county. The reason it was so special to me was because my ancestors lived and worked there until the company left there to move to West Virginia.

The town was torn down and for one hundred years that meadow stayed as a open field. Each Spring and Fall, and Winter, I would hike through the woods and up along side of Maxwell Run creek, to visit this place. There were apple trees and tall towering pines, and soft meadow grass. The open areas still had foundations and bits of china and antique bottles waiting to be found. The meadow held the headwaters of the creek and often deer and turkey visited the clearing as I sat underneath the branches of a apple tree.

It was a quiet restful place to draw and listen, and think of a time long ago when the town was there. The journey up to the meadow was easy for me as a young woman. The paths I followed were deer trails and railroad beds, that still follow the same path though the rails are long gone the half rotten ties remain. A day pack was all that was needed, along with a packed lunch. I would stay the day in the area and head for home later in the day to arrive home before dark.

Even though it has been years since I have been there and the landscape has changed due to new logging and the area becoming a big beaver dam, it has never left my memory on how to find it or the way it looked back then over thirty years ago.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” – Rachel Carson

I'll bite. This particular hike didn't go as planned - since it wasn't really planned. It's in Redwoods National Park, California, USA. The trail is called the Dolason Prairie Trail. Now, we wanted to drive into the Tall Trees Grove and wander downstream to the worlds tallest tree using some GPS coords I happened to come across. We went to get the permit to drive there, but the Park Service was not issuing permits. As an alternative, we decided to walk down the Dolason Prairie Trail to get to the grove. By the time we got to the trailhead it was too late to make it as far as the grove, so we just headed out to see how far we could go - and get back before dark. The trail starts at the top of the ridge and ends at the bottom 2,200 feet (670 meters) below. It meanders through the prairie, oak and redwood forest with lots of flowers. Really a lovely trail. Well, we made it to the bottom and back out, just after dark. My wife says I tried to kill her, but I figure what doesn't kill us just makes us stronger. You can find all the details, photos and video at: explore.globalcreations.com/places/usa/dolason-prairie-trail-redwood-national-park